New thread as the last thread seems to be broken.
Yeah & some posters (although that might have been facebook) saying we have a great chance to win the group. Forgetting everything that went before, our world ranking & lack of a midfield of discernible quality. Winning away v Cechia is a difficult task nevermind beating a Denmark who have beaten us more times than we've beaten them. Ive no issue with people dreaming. But com'n, potentially winning a world cup group despite not being there yet is ludicrous.
True but It's certainly easier to get out of the group than it is to actually get into the blooming thing with how its set up.
Yeah with the expansion SA are probably hoping ourselves or North Macedonia qualify. Maybe seeing us as the easier of the four to get a win against. That one win as you said for either side from SA Vs playoff winner could easily be enough to reach the knockouts.
Oh I can only imagine the favouritism that Portugal and the US are going to get. Throw Argentina in too as they'll be creaming themselves for a Messi Vs Ronaldo final.
More Ronaldo bashing. The most vile team I’ve ever seen at World Cups are the Netherlands.
In 2006 they deliberately set out to maim Ronaldo, a disgusting challenge bordering on criminality. They dragged the 2010 WC into the gutter. Van Bommel deserved a life time ban from international football for that assault in the final, as I said a vile team.
... After Kelleher saves another penalty.
Not if we finish bottom
12 groups, 48 teams, a round of 32, a round of 16, QFs etc … the wall charts are going to be BIG.
A lot of travelling( for all teams ) if we get there!, the 2nd match in Atlanta is at midday local time, so heat is going to be a hugh factor there, both matches in Mexico appear to be night time kick offs so at least it will be cooler. All the travel and different conditions are going to lead to unpredictable results
The quality of football is going to be rubbish.
Jake Obrien enjoyed today id say. 3-0 win over the boss that wouldn’t play him at the same club
Atlanta stadium is a dome
I see our potential fixtures have been released. For those of us that will be in Ireland: IF we qualify:
V South Korea Friday June 12th 3am
V South Africa Thursday June 18th 5pm
V Mexico Thursday June 25th 2am
Couple of late ones in there but towards the end of the week.
Where will those games be held .
Guadalajara, Atlanta, and Mexico City
The temperature during the two matches in Mexico is unlikely to exceed 20 degrees. The main challenge there will be the altitude rather than heat or travel logistics (for context if you stacked two Carrauntoohills on top of each other you'd still be 200m short of the altitude the Azteca sits at).
For the Atlanta match, the stadium's roof will be closed and it will be air conditioned, so no worries on that front.
There's two full weeks separating all three fixtures, players will recover between games, it's managing the altitude during the matches in Mexico is what will be critical. (All of this is, of course, contingent on our qualification).
It would be seriously cool to see Ireland play in a world up at the Azteca
There'll be a nationwide shortage of Nivea factor 50 if we qualify
It's the heat during the day, not just the time of the match, some players will not be able to cope, plus the travel on top and expected to perform, not sure you realise the distance they will need to cover, it's not like when it's held in one country like sat France, where distances are much smaller, last time in Qatar the distances were very small and the tournament was better for it, as players had more time to recover, this time players will be travelling thousands of miles
Guadalajara and Mexico City are just 90 minutes apart by air. The temperature during the day will be mid 20s and cooler in the evening when the matches are played. In Atlanta everything is air conditioned including the stadium so the players exposure to heat will be minimal, even during the match.
It's quite possible the days will be wet as May/June is the rainy season in Guadalajara and Mexico City.
I'd imagine they'd want to base themselves near Mexico City and travel on the morning of the match to Guadalajara with a temporary sub-base covering the 4 or so days they'll be in Atlanta for the game in the middle. That way travel is limited and they'd be based for the majority of the stay near Mexico City (10 or so days during the groups + approx. 2 weeks pre tournament prep time) at high altitude. Ideal preparation for the final match which will be a cauldron.
Parrot scores against Eagles 🐦 🦅
Round trip from Mexico to Atlanta is over 2,500 miles, that's a significant journey in the middle of a tournament, and this applies to all teams, I wasn't specifically talking about just our possible matches. Way too much travel during the tournament, much better when the venues are closer together.
Dublin to Budapest was 2,385 miles in a shorter time frame.
That's not in a tournament though, so the distance can't really be reduced, it depends entirely on the draw. Tournaments can be set up in a way to reduce the distances, thereby, giving players more rest time and best chance to perform. There are closer stadiums than Atlanta to Mexico in use at the world cup!
worth considering that every teams games seem to be further apart in dates than any previous World Cup
It would be very unusual to travel on the morning of the game and may actually be against the rules. I know it's a different organisation but in UEFA comps teams have to travel the day before games. Can't imagine any sports scientist would recommend flying on the day of a game
They do it all the time in the premier League and in european competitions but you might be right regarding the rules.
I don't think they do it in european competitions that's my point. UEFA comps require you to be at the venue the day before to train on the pitch and to do media obligations. They also try as much as possible to make teams fly charter flights to games
More reports about Evan Ferguson going back to Brighton in January.
Evan Ferguson set to return to Brighton in January, according to reports in Italy
"The well-known publication La Gazzetta dello Sport, has claimed that initial contacts with Brighton have already taken place with Roma over the Republic of Ireland forward’s return to the Premier League in January."
Whether he goes back in January or gets the full season in Rome, it seems pretty clear they won't be paying the €40m option to make it permanent next summer.
Another blow for Irish football.. Colin o Brien left go by FAI.
We better hope we get to America cause we might not again for long long time.
